In this Issue:

1&1 NEWS
	1&1 Announcements
	Spotlight Article
	eMarketing News & Events
TIPS
	Ad Creatives
	Secrets to Success
	Tool Tips
	Affiliate Bonuses

1&1 Pays on ALL products - Including Instant Domain Packages!

Almost everyone knows what a domain is. At only $6.99, 1&1 domains are super easy for you to promote. Now when anyone purchases an Instant Domain Package through your affiliate link, you will earn a big $2.50 commission. Domains are one of our most popular products. The more Domain Packages you sell, the more you earn. To make promoting our domains even easier, we give you a free domain lookup tool, encoded with your affiliate link which you can add to your web site So what are you waiting for? Start promoting domains today.

1&1 Internet Partners with Open-Xchange to Offer 1&1 MailXchange
MailXchange is a 1&1 hosted solution-- requiring no server management or licensing fees from customers. Small business owners and private users looking for an affordable alternative to Microsoft Exchange and SharePoint can utilize this hosted and feature-rich email and collaboration service. The service can also be utilized with any Windows Mobile smartphone. The commission on this exciting new product is a cool $20 dollars!

July Special Offers – Multiple Hosting Plans at 50% Off - Limited Time offer ends soon!

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For a full list of our commissions please review our affiliate commission table.

Web 2.0’s glitter
By: http://blog.marketingtips.com

There’s this bright, shiny object called "Web 2.0" that everyone seems to be fascinated with lately.
A lot of the heavy hitters in Internet marketing have been flocking to it like magpies, claiming it’s the "next big thing" in Internet marketing. They say if you don’t base all your marketing efforts on it, your business is DOOMED TO FAIL. Yikes!

Before you get caught up in all the hype, let’s just take a moment to consider what Web 2.0 actually IS, and whether it’s worth two seconds of your time.

Web 2.0: The secret weapon that’s going to help you "strike it rich"? … Or just another hammer in your toolbox?

There seems to be a lot of confusion around the term "Web 2.0" and what it really means.
Simply put, Web 2.0 refers to the rise in popularity of web sites that encourage user input and interactivity, and place heavy emphasis on community and shared experiences.

For example, well-known Web 2.0 sites include…

Wikipedia — The world’s most popular online encyclopedia, in which all the content is contributed and edited by its users (as opposed to paid experts)

Facebook — A popular social-networking site, where people can find old friends, post pictures of themselves, and share information about their lives with other registered members.

Digg — One of the best-known social bookmarking sites, where people share links to their favorite articles, videos, or images. Users then vote on the offerings, and the ones that get the most "Diggs" rise to the top and are seen by the most viewers.

… And that’s just a few! Basically, any site that features a blog or forum, or encourages input and feedback from its users, falls under the definition of "Web 2.0."

But what does this mean for marketers?

According to all the current hype, Web 2.0 means TRAFFIC — and lots of it.

The theory is that the more you interact on Web 2.0 sites like those mentioned above, the more you can expose potential new customers to your brand, and encourage them to visit your site.

And the more links you get pointing to your site from popular, high-PageRank sites such as these, the higher your site will appear in the search engine standings.

… Which means even MORE traffic to your site!

In practice, this is mostly true. Kind of.
Yes, you can drive a lot more traffic to your site from social media and bookmarking sites.

But — and here’s something the majority of Web 2.0 fanatics neglect to point out — it takes a LOT of TIME and EFFORT to get that traffic.
And on top of that, a question that must be asked is: "What KIND of traffic do you get???"

They can smell a pitch from a mile away

To understand the true value of Web 2.0-style marketing, first you need to understand the type of people who spend a lot of time hanging out at Web 2.0 sites.

These are people seeking diversion and entertainment. They want to socialize with their online friends, watch an entertaining video, or read something interesting or informative.

… In other words, they’re looking for FUN — not for something to buy!

So if you think you can just waltz into an online community and start talking about your product and how great it is — and then drive swarms of interested buyers to your site — you are DREAMING.

The fact is, they’ll probably tar and feather you — then run you out of town on a rail!

If you want to get any traction whatsoever out of Web 2.0 sites, you have to invest a LOT of your time in them.

You need to carefully observe how people interact with each other on the site, and then follow their example. You need to provide lots of useful free advice or other interesting information, so people appreciate your input.

And — unless people ask you about it — the ONLY place you should mention your business or your site URL is in your signature and/or your profile page.

Your sole objective should be relationship building, NOT selling.

As people begin to know you and trust you, they might become interested in checking out your site, in order to learn more about you.

But even if you DO manage to lure a bunch of new visitors to your site from a social site like Facebook or Digg, you have to remember that they’re clicking through mostly out of curiosity…
… NOT because they’re in a buying frame of mind.

And that means your "Web 2.0 traffic" isn’t going to convert at the same rate you’d expect from the traffic you get from your affiliates, joint venture partners, or pay-per-click ads.

But does that mean "Web 2.0 marketing" isn’t worth your time?
That depends… on you.

Is your business ALREADY a proven money-maker… Or still just a "twinkle in your eye"?

If you have a well-established, profitable business that’s doing a great job of turning traffic into sales… And you’re getting hundreds, if not THOUSANDS, of high-converting visitors to your site each day…
… Only then should you even consider getting into "Web 2.0 marketing."

Even though Web 2.0 traffic doesn’t convert as well as traffic from other sources, putting your name and business brand out there on such hugely popular sites really IS a great way to introduce your product to new audiences.

It’s just that it takes a whole lot longer to connect the dots between the effort you put into it… and the eventual sales you get as a result.

So if your business is still in "blueprint mode"…

… Or if you do have a site, but it’s not getting much traffic yet and few of your visitors are converting into customers…

… Then the truth is, there are probably a LOT of things you should be working on that will yield far more tangible, profitable results than spending hours each day on a site like Facebook or Digg!

Before you invest a lot of time on "Web 2.0" marketing, you absolutely MUST do the necessary research to make sure people actually WANT to buy your product!

Make sure your sales copy and site design are doing the BEST possible job of converting visitors into buyers!

Optimize your site for the search engines — which, contrary to some marketers’ claims, are STILL the greatest source of free traffic available online!

Use proven traffic generation strategies — such as pay-per-click advertising and article marketing — to drive more qualified visitors to your site (Yes, the old "tried & true" methods still work best!)

Partner with other successful businesses and do joint ventures to put your product in front of new groups of interested visitors

Once your business is making good money — and you’ve maximized all the proven ways of driving qualified traffic to your site — THEN AND ONLY THEN should you turn your attention to "Web 2.0."

… Because otherwise, I’m afraid you’ll find yourself digging WAY too many holes in the ground — but never striking gold.

Am I reading this wrong? 

eNews Editor's Note: One of the often overlooked benefits of Web 2.0 marketing strategies is not just to build traffic, but to build word of mouth advertising and brand recognition. Derek makes a good point that traditional online marketing tactics used to generate qualified buyer traffic typically have a much higher conversion ratio. One of the easiest Web 2.0 strategies is the placement of social bookmarking links on your site, these encourage visitors to share your URL with other like minded people. This strategy can be tried by anyone, without a lot of work unlike other Web 2.0 strategies. Like all things in online marketing, remember the mantra: Test, Test, Test...

What’s new in the world of affiliate marketing? Read up on all the latest news about affiliate marketing, search engines, e-mail and other issues which can affect your online marketing success.

News:

Wicked Fire - SEO & Affiliate Talk
www.wickedfire.com

aBestWeb.com - Trusted Affiliate Forum
www.aBestWeb.com

WebmasterWorld.com - Developer Topics
www.WebmasterWorld.com

AffiliateTip.com - From affiliate marketer Shawn Collins
www.affiliatetip.com/affiliate_newsletter.php

ReveNews - Affiliate portal and newsletter
www.revenews.com/newsletter.html

MarketingSherpa.com - Premium Internet Marketing studies and research
www.marketingsherpa.com/newsletters.html

SEO news - Weekly search engine optimization news
www.free-seo-news.com/index.php

Marketingnewz - Assorted marketing headlines
www.marketingnewz.com

Searchenginewatch - Top search engine news
www.searchenginewatch.com

MediaPost - Professional online marketers news and resources
www.mediapost.com

Events:

July 9-10, 2008
eComXpo The Virtual Tradeshow for eCommerce Marketers
Online

July 16, 2008
Search Engine Optimization Workshops in Oregon
Oregon

July 22, 2008
ClickZ: Online Video Advertising
New York City

August 5-6, 2008
ad:tech Chicago
Chicago

August 10-12, 2008
Affiliate Summit East 2008 (1&1 Affiliate Team will be here!)
Boston

This month’s current banner style is:

If you don't have it yet, make sure to get it from your Control Panel: 1&1 Control Panel

In this section we explore the importance of keeping your banner ads up to date

It is strongly encouraged that all of our 1&1 affiliates have the latest banners and text links on your web site Our affiliate banners will for the most part automatically update to reflect our most current offers. However there are certain instances, like when you host our banners on your own server, when they do not. So it never hurts to check. If you take some simple steps and just a few minutes of time, you will:

• Increase your conversion rate
• Increase your clicks
• Not worry about wrong prices listed on an old 1&1 banner
• Create goodwill with your sites visitors
• Have confidence in knowing you are displaying the latest promotion from 1&1
• Increase your commissions (more money in your pocket!)

Time is money. If you want to increase your commissions, then having updating creatives is essential to your success in being a 1&1 affiliate. Make sure you have the latest ad creative, just log in to your 1&1 control panel and then under Affiliate Program click on “Links and Banners”. Then simply copy the HTML code and paste it into your web site Keeping this code in place on your web site will ensure that you always have the latest ad being displayed from 1&1. This is the easiest way for 1&1 affiliates to always have the latest banner. It takes only a few minutes of your time to ensure you always will be displaying our latest 1&1 promotion.

For those select affiliates who do not use our HTML code and host their own images on your own server. It is strongly encouraged you take a few minutes of time every 2 months to ensure you are displaying the correct banner and promotion from 1&1. Displaying the wrong price on an outdated banner would significantly reduce your CTR and potential lost sales.

If you have any questions or need any help on implementing the HTML code, banners or text links into your site. Please email us at emarketing@1and1.com or call us at 610-560-1539 and we would be happy to assist you in getting started.

When you do online marketing for your web site, good tools and information can help make the job easier. While there are many commercial (fee based) tools that work well, it is also great to find ones that are 100% no-cost. The tools and newsletters below are completely FREE. Hint: Add these goodies to your web favorites grab and use them today.

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Free CSS web site templates:
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Web Master Tools
http://www.digitalpoint.com/tools/

Search Engine Marketing Tools
http://www.marketleap.com/siteindex

Free web site templates
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Free PDFmaker (great for making newsletters or eBooks that you can imbed your affiliate link into)
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Digital Web Magazine
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Fotolia Special offer page

20% Off any order with Text-Link-Ads!
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Web site Magazine
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Practical Ecommerce Magazine
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Search Marketing Standard
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We hope you enjoyed our July Affiliate eNews.

Our dedicated 1&1 affiliate team is here to help you succeed in your affiliate endeavors, no matter how big or small. Our affiliate managers have a wealth of experience and are happy to share it with you, so feel free to contact us at emarketing@1and1.com or call us directly at (610) 560-1541.

Sincerely,